Shorts: More top picks from Noise Pop - Page 3

Budos Band's frentic exploration of the funk diaspora takes a hold of the Independent Feb. 23.

MATTHEW DEAR

Matthew Dear has a talent for surprisingly rewarding detours. With Asa Breed (Ghostly) in 2007, he departed from the pure percussive bliss of minimal techno and house, which occupied the scope of his previous efforts, in favor of pop song structures and vocal stylings in the spirit of Brian Eno. My favorite winding road came with 2010's Black City (Ghostly): a record prefaced by bubbly vocals and rhythms, whose lightness quickly disperses into an orgiastic sort of density typical of film noir's crowded urban landscapes, and the lustful encounters they tend to prompt. Last month's Headcage EP (Ghostly) marks the most recent tangent into drum patterns that glide and skitter, but if Matthew Dear's past wanderings are any indication, it promises yet another fruitful pathway in the ever expanding multiverse of his sound production. (Michael Krimper)

VERONICA FALLS

There are a lot of great bands returning to the Bay Area this year during Noise Pop, but one in particular hasn't made it yet. Veronica Falls was originally scheduled for its debut SF performance at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall last September, when an issue with visas forced the UK quartet of indie pop morbid romantics to cancel at the last minute. At the time of the cancellation the group was also releasing its first self-titled LP on Slumberland Records, so on the plus side there's been extra time for anyone awaiting Veronica Falls's appearance to take in the music. It's an album that delivers on the promise of early singles "Beachy Head" and "Found Love in a Graveyard" — a hauntingly retro British sound with layered vocals led by the bittersweet Roxanne Clifford, laid on top of the classic combination of jangled guitar rhythms and a punchy back beat. (Ryan Prendiville)

UPSIDE DOWN: THE CREATION RECORDS STORY

Danny O'Connor's doc about legendary British indie label Creation Records is named both for the Jesus and Mary Chain single that helped launched the imprint — and the go-for-broke attitude shared by many of the freewheeling characters involved in its story. Most of them chime in to help tell the tale, including founder Alan McGee, a Scot whose thick accent is among many collected here that may make Americans long for subtitles. And, of course, what a tale — filled with colorful encounters, drugs, major-label wooing, drugs, "shockingly out of control" behavior, drugs, and all of the expected trappings of music-biz stardom. The soundtrack is filled with Creation's many alt-rock, acid house, shoegaze, and Brit-pop success stories, including Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Swervedriver, Teenage Fanclub, and Oasis. Where were you while they were gettin' high? Director O'Connor appears in person for a Q&A after the screening. (Cheryl Eddy)